


R-E-A-D-E-R

by Nebulad



Series: Stargazers [2]
Category: Pyre (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, M/M, Other, nb character, writing fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-31
Updated: 2017-07-31
Packaged: 2018-12-09 11:18:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 921
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11668041
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nebulad/pseuds/Nebulad
Summary: Reading may not be a crime in the Downside– no worse than anything else, anyway– but learning to write still gives Hedwyn a bit of secret thrill.





	R-E-A-D-E-R

Hedwyn didn’t know where the Reader found a journal, but nonetheless they were writing. Even watching them do so was fascinating, despite the mystery of the symbols they chose to fill the pages; like in the Book, all of the letters were small and uniform. Theirs were rounder, though, than the stiff and decorative print that whispered secrets of Rites and Scribes.

“What do they mean?” he asked, leaning over. They seemed to impulsively try to cover what they were doing, before remembering that no hobby was more profane than another in the Downside, and perhaps that even if Hedwyn stared at the page for a year he’d probably not be granted the knowledge of how to read any of it.

Minutely, they relaxed and let the pages come back into plain view. “Recording my thoughts on the other Triumvirates,” they explained, even going as far to push the paper towards him before remembering the fruitlessness of their effort. “So far we’ve fought the Accusers, the Fates, and the Withdrawn. The Accusers— Lendel seemed to think he knew us, didn’t he?” They slid a particular page over so he could see it better, which seemed polite if unnecessary. He liked it, anyway.

“He seemed to have some history with Nightwings, though none of us had ever met him.” He was confident enough saying that, as only Jodi and Rukey had been present at the time. Rukey was fairly upfront with him at this point in their friendship, especially when it pertained to bad business. Jodi was likewise truthful, because she wouldn’t have interacted with him even if she had met him before, and Hedwyn certainly didn’t know him from anywhere. “I’ll look into it,” he promised. “Which one of these words says _Lendel?”_

They pointed towards a word that began and ended with the same symbol— the drawn out sound with the tip of the tongue behind the front teeth— and then wrote it out again in larger letters for him. He studied it closely, but made no comment. “Next is the Fate and… this sounds terrible but I think I felt very bad about beating them.”

“No worse than Rhae,” he said fondly. “We may still meet them at the end, should they prevail over all other competition.”

“I think beating them there would be infinitely worse.” They wrote three words in larger letters for him, then pointed and read, “Dalbert Oakheart, Almer.” Idly, he tried to match the letters to the sounds, which proved difficult on its own and near impossible to do with so few letters; still, he didn’t bother the Reader to explain it to him. Scribes knew he wouldn’t be able to pick up such an old skill in an afternoon.

“And the Withdrawn?” he asked. They fell quiet for a few seconds, then smiled nervously.

“I’m sorry, I don’t… I don’t know how to spell Udmildhe,” they admitted. He looked at the page and found many similar-looking words crossed out with increasing frustration. “None of them look right— I think there’s a silent letter somewhere but I can’t decide where to put it.”

Silent letters. Reading sounded harder and harder the more he learned. “And what about us Nightwings?” he asked, hoping to sound casual. They didn’t have a full paper like the others did, but a blank one was brought forth with a knowing smile— he forgot that sometimes the Reader could see into him like an open book. He’d been hoping to find out what his name looked like when it was written down; if fate decided that he would only ever learn one word, perhaps it would be interesting for it to be his own name.

“Jodariel,” they began, writing slow and precisely, and then, “Jodi.” Her name looked a little like her, he thought; bulky, with the twist of the lilting _L_ at the end. “Rukey Greentail,” which was two words and many symbols. It also hearkened to the Cur, in the sense that it was a very, very long name even in writing which he was sure would please Rukey if he cared about such a thing. “Rhae,” had a funny little shape in the middle: a circle with a curved tail that looked a little like a driving imp with no horns. “And Hedwyn.”

His own word looked strange to him, which was mildly disappointing. He’d sort of hoped that despite his unfamiliarity with letters he’d _know_ his name when he saw it, but the thing looked just like any other word: completely meaningless. Still, he liked the first letter— the way it looked, anyway. He couldn’t decide what it sounded like, if it was as short as the huffing sound that began his name or if it included full syllables. “And yours?” he asked

“ _My_ name?”

“You’re a Nightwing too,” he reminded them, grinning when their neck turned pink.

“I don’t have a name,” they reminded him, writing a word down anyway. He assumed it was _Reader_ before they told him so, and impulsively opened his hand for the pen they held. His letters weren’t as neat or sure as theirs, the spacing self-conscious and the lines too meticulous to be natural, but the word he wrote and theirs were identical. “Soon we can switch places in the Rites,” they teased, though not unkindly.

He laughed, something warm in the pit of his gut. If fate decided that he would only ever learn one word, perhaps he wouldn’t be as interested in his own name as he thought.

**Author's Note:**

> [Writing blog is here](http://nebulaad.tumblr.com) and [commission info is here](http://nebulaad.tumblr.com/post/162182264019/writing-commissions).
> 
> Ngl I lost my fucking marbles when I saw one of Hedwyn's idle statuses was about him trying to write like please. Please, I can't take it. I need to breathe he can't be Like This.


End file.
